‘I’m Still Here’ Outlasts ‘Emilia Pérez’ to Win Best International Feature at Oscars 2025

A few months ago, it was a foregone conclusion that Emilia Pérez would win best international feature at the Oscars 2025. But due to a remarkable turn of events in the time since, Netflix’s controversial juggernaut came into Sunday’s Academy Awards as the underdog in the category—and indeed ultimately lost to I’m Still Here, the Brazilian drama directed by Walter Salles.

Emilia is the most-nominated movie at this year’s Oscars, and it had all but swept the precursor circuit for this category, from the Golden Globes in January all the way to the BAFTAs earlier this month. But the affection for this wild musical-drama wasn’t enough to withstand the disastrous impact of the scandal surrounding the movie’s star, Karla Sofía Gascón, on its awards campaign. Once the Oscar nominee’s years-long offensive social media history was uncovered in January, the narratives propelling the film’s candidacy—inclusion, tolerance, the breaking down of barriers—were punctured, and the widespread criticism of the film from trans and Latino/Latina critics gained greater hold. Not even Netflix’s massive awards machine could stop the tide of backlash.

I’m Still Here, meanwhile, proved itself all season long to be the little film that could. Made for less than $1.5 million, the stirring biopic of progressive activist Eunice Paiva (played by Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres) pulled off an impressive global box-office gross north of $27 million, on the backs of organic social media enthusiasm that spread around the world. The film’s inspiring exploration of one woman’s resistance to authoritarianism resonated particularly in the US, and its canny domestic distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, mounted a perfectly timed screening offensive for Academy members after Torres pulled off a Golden Globe win in December.

I’m Still Here also received Oscar nominations for best actress (Torres) and best picture. Emilia, meanwhile, is still competitive in several categories, but it remains to be seen what the movie can win after getting supporting actress and best original song.

When he appeared on Vanity Fair’s Little Gold Men podcast last month, Salles, whose movie Central Station was nominated in this category nearly 30 years ago, seemed to still be processing the ways in which his fresh film has struck a chord. “The characters and the sociopolitical aspects of this film may look closer to many cultures than it felt a year ago or two years ago, and that is something that nobody could have anticipated,” he said. “This is that mystery of when something, a book or a film, somehow blends with the zeitgeist. That’s a roll of the dice.”

This year, in conjunction with our Oscar-week events, Vanity Fair is supporting the efforts of two local organizations helping Angelenos: the Motion Picture & Television Fund and Baby2Baby. We encourage you to donate to these or other charities supporting the city and families.